Pilbara pubs vow to fight booze ban

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Furious bottle shop and pub owners in Karratha are set to launch a rearguard action against booze restrictions that have been condemned as “un-Australian”.

Director of Liquor Licensing Duncan Ord conceded yesterday that one of the measures imposed on Pilbara residents was all but unenforceable if people shopped at multiple bottle shops.

The restrictions include a ban on the sale of takeaway alcohol on Sundays and a daily takeaway limit of one bottle of spirits or a combination of a carton of beer and three bottles of wine during the week.

Mr Ord said he recognised people could go shop to shop.

“There is of course the WA Police Force who are supporting these changes and if people are concerned there is grog shopping going on, then police have the powers to intervene and confiscate that alcohol,” he said.

Members of the West Pilbara Liquor Accord — a group of about 16 Karratha businesses — are expected to meet next week to discuss a possible appeal.

Nationals MP Vince Catania, who represents several Pilbara towns, said a “Sunday ban on six-packs” was un-Australian.

“It wouldn’t happen in Northbridge,” he said. “This is a classic example of tarnishing everyone with the same brush. Karratha is a regional city. Would you have the same ban in Geraldton, Albany or Bunbury?

“To not allow people to be able to grab a few drinks to go fishing, to have a barbecue on a Sunday, it’s just completely un-Australian and the Government should step in and actually provide the necessary support to agencies to deal with the problem people.”

Mr Ord defended the restrictions, saying that services in the region, where the alcohol consumption is higher than the rest of WA, could not keep up.

“The restrictions on volume and sales is a more practical imposition than trying to increase policing of alcohol in the community more broadly with people spread across such a long distance,” he said.